Vague invoice from a contractor

[Vincent Carroll]

Greetings,

My wife and I hired a general contractor to renovate a garage on one of our properties. He provided an estimate up front , and we paid half as an initial deposit. Upon completion of the job (which was done satisfactorily) her requested final payment. We asked for a detailed invoice, which came in the form of "materials and labor = $9500, Permit costs = $300". We pressed him for a proper itemization of materials and labor, to which he replied "it's my busy season and I have many other jobs going at the same time. The receipts are all commingled over many different dates, so don't have a way to break this out any further." Although his final bill is exactly the same as his estimate, this seems completely unacceptable. How can he say the work cost X amount if he doesn't even know what his material and time were? Any advice on how to handle this? Thanks in advance!

[Manolo D.]

The invoice is not "vague", most residential contractors only have one or in your case, two lines. If you did not state in your contract that you "require" a detailed invoice --which is likely--, then the contractor could invoice it in any way he deems it, if you required a "schedule of values" and that you need materials and labor break downs per room or per trade, then he needs to comply before you pay, or hold a retention fund  for the paperwork completion (most likely 10%). However, with only what you said, the contractor's invoice is valid and needs to be paid without further action from him and can lien you for non-payment. Contractors don't need to give you receipt or justify its business expenses to you, to be frank, it's none of your business, as long as you signed a fixed amount, an invoice and other docs required by law and contract documents should be the only one you should deal with. On the bright side, your contractor completed the job satisfactorily, that's already something there, and it's that other investors have probelms with.